Boiler



Jan. 27, 1931; CURRAN 1,790,463

' BOILER Filed March 15. 1929 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 F6'0e- U4 Hwuemtoz 7500714524 Cu/Pfiwm a t tome T. A. CURRAN 1,790,463

Jan. 27, 1931.

BOILER Filed March 15, 1929 '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 avwomic'c I YZ OMAJA. CURE/4M rw W W \s .W \IAM NM v Jan. 27, 1931. T. CURRAN 1,790,463

BOILER Filed March 15, 1929 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 avwwtoz 1 710044514. CUERAM GIT twat Jan. 27, 1 931. (:URRAN 1,790,463

BOILER Filed March 15, 1929 7'Sheets-Sheet 5 noemtoz 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Jan. 27, 1931. T. A. CURRAN BOILER Filed March 15, 1929 1 I Y A J l w A kliilllllliilllllllrll Jan. 27, 1931. T. A. CURRAN 1,790,463

' BOILER Filed March 15, 1929 7 Sheets-Sheet '7 Elvwamboz From/7s .14. CUR/B4.

Patented Jan. 27, 1931 UNETE Tsar pram OFFICE.

THOMAS A. CURRAN, on NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TOHUGH J. SHEERAN, on NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK Application filed March 15, 1929. Serial 'Nd. 347,312.

. utmost importance to conserve space and it ticularity in the appended claims.

is also highly desirable to provide steam generating coils so disposed that a maximum of heat absorption area is made available in a minimum amount of space. It is also im portantto provide an arrangement whereby superheated steam can be rapidly produced. lily improved boiler meets theabove requirements and provides a structure of unique design and arrangement adapted to be mounted, for example, beneath the flooring of a railway car or motor bus, the boiler quiriug an extremely small amount of headroom thus not interfering with the clearance between the road bed and theunder rigging of the car.

The invention will be fully apparent from the following specification when read in connection with the accompanying drawings and the novel features will be defined with par- In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a plan View of a boiler embodying my invention, the casing thereof being shown in section; i

Fig, 2 is a front sectional elevation of a boiler with the su'perheater coil omitted and the casing shown in section in the interest of clearness;

Fig. 3'is a rear sectional elevation;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section on line l1 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is ahorizontal section on line 5 -5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a similar horizontal section at a lower plane indicated by line 66 of Fig. 4; 7 is a detail view showing in front elevation the primary secondary header, the superheater and related connection;

, Fig. 8 is a detail View of one of the steam generating coils shown in Figs. 4 and 5.;

Fig. 9 is a detail View of a fiat, coil;

Fig. 10 is a diagram illustrating the application of my improved boiler to a railway car orthe like.

'zag'form as indicated at 16?).

Referringin detail to the drawings, the boiler comprises front and rear primary headers 10 and 12 and a secondary header 1% and a multiplicity of identical banks 16 of steam generating tubes. The banks of tubes 16 are each connected at the front and rear, respectively, to the hcaders 10 and112'in a manner more fully hereinafter described.

Each bank of tubes 16 is in the form of a modifiedhelical coil of substantially rectangular form in end View as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Located between the convolutions of each bank of tubes 16, I provide a flat, zig-zag coil as shown at 18. I

"The tube banks 1cm arrangedin tandem-- as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and the first three horizontal tiers of tube banks are substantially identical. In the uppermost tier of the boiler, I provide a generating tube bank 16a the rear portion of which is identical with the lower tube banks 16. i The forward part of the tube banks 1684, however, is of flat, zig- This zig-zag portion 165 extends through the convolutions ofa steam drying coil 20. One end 22 of this drying coil communicates with the interior of the secondary header let. As indicated in Fig. 4, the rear portion of 'thedrying coil is bent around at 2% and connects with the forwardly extending tube 26 at the front end of the boiler, the tube 26 bends upwardly and enters the primary header indicated at 28. The zig-zag portion 16a connects at its left extremity 4.2 with the primary header 10.

A preheater or economizer coil 30 is connected at one end to a water supply pipe and at its opposite end 34: to the rear heador 12. I

An outer casing 36 encloses the boiler and a layer of asbestos or other insulating materm]. 38 1S interposed between the preheater tubes 30 and the casing.

The circulation through the boiler is from the water inlet 32 Fig. 1 through the multiplicity of convolutions of the preheater tube '30 through a connection 34 leading to the rear header 12. From the rearheader water is free to flow through the multiplicity of tube banks 16, 16a and 18 to the front ill header 10. Steam generated in the tubes will flow to the upper part of the front header 1O thence, by way of the portions 28 and 26 through the steam coil 20, as indicated by the arrows, to the connection 22 leading to the secondary header l l. From the secondary header steam will flow by pipe to the throttle valve 42 and thence by pipe to the inlet end 16 of the superheater coil 48 mounted in juxtaposition to the front secondary header 14;. From the superheater coil 48 steam can be conveyed to a prime mover steam turbine or the like by means of a pipe 50. The boiler is fired by means of a burner adapted to use kerosene, gasoline or similar liquid fuel, said burner being mounted adjacent the secondary header 1%, and being arranged to project the flame in a horizontal direction through the boiler. The waste gases of combustion pass elf through an outlet flue 53 formed in the casing.

lVith reference to the manner of connecting the various tube banks with the primary headers 10 and 12, it is noted that in the embodiment illustrated the boiler includes two main groups of tube banks arranged in four substantially parallel tiers. The banks of tubes at the left in Fig. 2 are substantially the same as the banks at right, therefore, a description of the connections and arrange ments of one will suffice for both.

The headers 10, 12 and 14 are of substantially hollow rectangular form as shown in end view, each header consisting of a. pair of upright pipe-like members connected at the top to transverse pipe-like members.

For convenience in reading the drawings and tracing the connections of the various steam generator tubes to the front and rear headers, the following nomenclature will be used:

1 H designates the lowermost helical coil 16.

1 Z designates the lowermost zig-xag coil 18.

- H designates the second helical coil 16. Z designates the second zig-zag coil 18. ll designates the third helical coil 16.

. Z designates the third Zigzag coil 18.

a H designates the fourth or topmost rear portion of the fourth steam generating coil.

a Z designates the front zig-Zag portion of the topmost helical coil.

The drying coil in the top tier has already been described and will not be further referred to.

The coils 1 H, 2 H, 3 H and 4: H connect with the front header at the points indicated at 1 h, 2 1 b, and 3 lb, and the forward end of the top coil L H 16 a is of form and connects with the front header at the point indicated at 4: 2.

The connections of coils 1 H, 2 H, 3 H and 1 H to the rear header are shown at 1 h, 2 h, 3 it and 1- h, the latter connection being made to one of the uprights of the header as a matter of convenience and to avoid interference or crowding of the connections.

The connections for the flat or zig-zag coils 1 Z, 2 Z and 3 Z to the front header are shown, respectively, at 1 e, 2 2 and 3 2. Similarly, the zig-zag coils connect with the rear header at the points indicated at 1 2, 2 e and 3 2', the latter connect-ion being made to one of the upright tubular members of the rear header.

Various parts of the tube structure may be united by strips such as indicated at 54 welded as at 56 and 58 to the headers and preheater tubes. Other parts may be similarly braced by the use of welded clips or blocks as indicated. at (it) in Fig. 7, wherein the different convolutions of the superheater coil are secured to one another and the coil as a whole is secured by block (32 to the front secondary header 14.

The arrangement shown and described provides a boiler in which the steam generating tubes are of sinuous form so as to provide an enormous amount of absorption surface in minimum amount of space. The arrangement zig-zag coils nested within the convolutions of the so-called helical coils permits of an exceedingly compact arrangement whereby we are able to utilize the space required between the tubes necessitated by the form of the return bends in the helical tubes.

The design and arrangement of the boiler as a whole is such that an extremely small amount of head-room is required to accommodate it. As shown in diagrammatic view, Fig. 10, it is apparent that the boiler is suitable for mounting beneath the flooring of a railway car. The steam pipe can lead directly to steam engine E mounted on the truck T of the car.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A steam boiler adapted for use on vehicles comprising spaced primary headers, a secondary header parallel with and adjacent one of the latter, a plurality of banks of hellcally coiled tubes and zig-Zag tubes nested therein all connected between said primary headers, a steam drying coil disposed between and connecting one of said primary headers with said secondary header and a superheater coil connected to said secondary header.

2. A steam boiler adapted for use on vehicles comprising spaced headers each formed of a pair of hollow uprights connected at their ends to respective hollow cross members, a plurality of banks of coiled tubes substantially filling the space between said headers, a steam collecting header, a steam drying coil connecting one of the first named headers with said steam collecting header and a burner adjacent said steam collecting header aligned with said tubes and said drying coil and arranged to direct its flame between the hollow uprights and cross members forming; said headers.

3. A steam boiler adapted for use on Vehicles comprising spaced headers each formed of a pair of hollow uprights connected at their ends to respective hollow cross members, a plurality of banks of nested, helical and Zig-zag tubes substantially filling the space between said headers, a steam collecting header, a steam drying coil connecting one of the first named headers with said steam collecting header and a burner adjacent said steam collecting header arranged to direct its flame between the hollow uprights and cross members forming said headers, and a s1 lperheater connected with said steam header and located between said burner and said banks of tubes. 7

4-. A steam boiler adapted to bemounted below the floor of a vehicle, comprising a pair of primary headers of substantially rectangular form each comprising a pair of relatively short hollow uprights connected at top and bottom with relatively longer hollow members, a plurality of banks of helical tubes having zig-zag coils nested therein communieating with said primary headers, a secondary header adjacent one of said primary headers, and a steam coil connecting one primary header with said secondary header.

5. A boiler of the class described comprising front and rear primary headers of substantially or approximately hollow rectangular shape formed of pipe-like members, a plurality of banks of helically coiled continuous tubes and Zig-zag tubes nested therein and'all located between said headers so as to provide a maximum heat absorption surface in a minimum space, the ends of each tube being connectedrespectively to the lower part of one header and to the upper part of the other header.

(3. The boiler of claim 5 including a steam collecting header and. a steam dryrng coil connecting the latter header with one of said primary headers.

7. The boiler of claim 5 wherein certain banks of tubes are arranged flatwise and nested within the convolutions of other banks of tubes. 7

8. The boiler of claim 5 including a preheater coil enclosing said banks of tubes and connected with a water supply and with one of said headers.

9. The boiler of claim 5, a casing surrounding said tube banks and a burner arranged to project .a flame horizontally across said tube banks.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

THOMAS A. CURRAN. 

